The Dust Bowl began in the 1930's with dust storms, droughts, and capital losses. Many people from this time period believed the dust bowl was just a natural occurrence, but the devastation caused by the Dust Bowl could only lead back to humans. In the essay, "Grassland Follies: Agricultural Capitalism on the Plains," the argument against natural occurrence of the dust bowl is very convincing. The author of the essay, Donald Worster, gives viewpoints from both sides of the argument. Worster believed nature was not to blame for the Dust Bowl, but that capitalist America was at fault. Dust storms do happen naturally, but not in the magnitude like that of the Dust Bowl. Other forces like new agricultural technologies and the big business brought about by those technologies had a big part to play in the destruction of grasslands in the Great Plains. Here it is argued that humans could have affected the environment in the early 1900s: "It is now held that human activities can affect climate, one of the components of the environment" (Bazzaz 1). With the even more advanced agricultural technologies of today the chance of future land destruction should be more closely examined, because with these new technologies another dust bowl or environmental disaster is going to happen. The occurrence of the Dust Bowl was a tragedy to be learned from, but with the worlds need for capital a new ecological disaster could take place.

Natural dust storms happen all of the time, but the Dust Bowl's storms were larger and more destructive than any others recorded since. The movement west by settlers and farmers began to bring agricultural business to the plains. The small farms on the land did not affect dust storms too much. The small farms did not do enough tilling up of the soil to prevent the land from regenerating every season. With the coming of new large industrial farms the plowing of huge acres of land loosened unbelievable amounts of dirt. This time period was The Great Plow-up of the 1920s. Capitalism and industry took the plains over. Population and politics did not force this, but as Worster suggests, "it was humans and the economic culture pushing them ahead"(213). It was only a few individuals who started big agricultural farming, but a gigantic wave of farmers were quick to follow the intelligent business minded men and women.

During this time the land was treated poorly. Over-farming and grazing killed off much of the plain's grasslands. People did not see consequences in big industrial farming. They only wanted money and stability at a time when both were scarce: "The agricultural entrepreneur stood for the idea that the land's true and only end was to become a commodity"(Worster 214). It was not until too late that society realized its greed. By not allowing the soil sufficient time to replenish itself, the farmers of America started the fall into an agricultural and economic depression. Nothing could grow in the nutrient poor soil. Therefore no money could be made from any crop yields.

Our country is a capitalist nation. It is every American's right to start their own business and to make and keep the money they make from that business. This sounds like a great plan where everyone is happy, but without strict guidelines some entrepreneurs use up many natural resources and or destroy other resources in the process. This is what happened before the Dust Bowl. The land was tilled and planted on without regard to soil nutrients. When a piece of land is harvested it needs time to recuperate and regain nutrients. If no time is given for recuperation then the soil cannot grow plants. During the Dust Bowl soil quality suffered, and with the Great Plow -Up taking place at this time the Great Plains topsoil simply blew away.

After the Dust Bowl it was easy to see the causes of the catastrophe. The large farm owners did not care to rethink their production methods. They continued to replant and try to make their businesses even larger. Even with the knowledge of what over planting can do to the land, the majority of our country just moved on and continued to treat the land just as poorly as before. America in general was too worried about coming out of a depression to bother with looking at land problems. Big industry farming took a big hit in the Dust Bowl, but the capitalists of the 1920's had created a worldwide business that could never stop as long as Americans needed more money. America's grain production fed half of the world in the early 1900's. With other country's dependency on our food, some entrepreneurs were able to keep going even after the Dust Bowl. New ideas were brought about, which dealt with the idea that small farms would help the environment. This did help stop the over tilling of huge acres of soil, but the world needed America's agricultural products in the early century, and still needs these products in the present. Now we have new technologies like computers, combines, huge tractors, and new irrigation systems. Even with all of these new technologies the lands of America are for the most part still being tilled up, destroyed, and overused. How can this be? How can our country continue to torture its land without feeling the full consequences? These new technologies like pesticides can cause the land to change over time. Other plants and animals can die, which can change the environment completely. These drastic environmental changes can eventually make the land into a chemical wasteland. Nature is strong, but the soil can be nearly destroyed like in the Dust Bowl. Though the plains took a large blow, the land still recuperated after years of abusive use. This was because the plains did not have to deal with today's technologies. Today's machines and chemicals can affect an area's climate and weather over time. With the time the land takes to be destroyed it is hard to measure the minute present effects. Here Fathri Bazzaz discusses nature's inability to recover from large amounts of environmental stress: "most soils do not have the high intrinsic resilience against physical soil degradation by, for example, high- intensity rainfall"(57). In Bazzaz's example he talks of heavy rainfall having negative effects on the land. The over planting and soil depletion of the Dust Bowl are like heavy rains, because they can cause many soil problems. In both cases the topsoil is washed or blown away leaving the leftover nutrient poor soil.

Even with knowledge of what caused the Dust Bowl Americans continued in their pursuit of money. With the depression and other worldwide problems on their brains, the American people chose to disregard the land and prosper themselves with capital. The American people needed money so badly that they rushed to replant the fields and continue in their pursuit for power and money. This need for power and wealth has fueled the agricultural industry in America for years and will probably continue to do so. Hopefully it will not take another ecological and environmental disaster to show the public what could happen if something is not done. With our vast food supply and great wealth, this nation should be doing more to improve the quality of the natural environment.

Today we must deal with newfound problems of the capitalist agricultural business. With new science and tools the agricultural entrepreneur of today can hurt the lands on which they farm even more so than the Dust Bowl. Some problems like smaller versions of the Dust Bowl and erosion are easily seen. Other hidden problems such as; fertilizer run-off into tap water systems, can cause people to get cancer or other diseases or abnormalities from the chemicals. The new larger tractors and other machines have greatly improved production in the agriculture industry, but with the faster bigger machines crops are removed and replanted much quicker. This fast pace still destroys the land, but now with chemicals like fertilizers the land can seem replenished. However, the land just has a temporary fix. The chemicals used in agriculture can have negative effects, which include water contamination, changes in plant and animal behavior and form, weather, and in the long-run these chemicals have been shown to affect climate. The chemicals and large-scale production on farms today will cause definite environmental problems for the future.

The massive and sudden change to the plains is what caused the dust bowl. Never before had a dust storm occurred with the devastation of the Dust Bowl. With new technologies like tractors and larger combines nature could not replenish itself in time. The global economy of the 1930s depended on the agriculture of the Great Plains. Some greedy people tried to meet these demands too quickly and carelessly. This devastation of the land could have been avoided if the land was not treated as just a tool for making money. Land, especially farmland should be used in measure to its natural ability to recuperate. Something must be done about the new problems, which the lands of America and the entire world face. The environment is suffering from people's greed and callousness. More attention should be brought to this matter before the land and the economy feel the effects of another environmental catastrophe. The land gives so much to all. It is time it got something back.

Worster, Donald. "Grassland Follies: Agricultural Capitalism on the Plains." The Great Plains: Writing Across the Disciplines. Ed. Brad Gambill, et al. Ft. Worth: Harcourt Custom Publishers, 2001. 206-19.

Bazzaz, Fakhri. Global Climate Change and Agricultural Production. New York: Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and John Wiley & Sons, 1996.

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